ANDREW STRAUSS will lead out England in the opening npower Test of the Ashes series today after admitting it was an honour he never thought he would be given.

The 32-year-old England captain has attempted to remain detached from the significance of leading his country out in Cardiff for the first time in an Ashes Test despite admitting it would be a “huge moment” in his career.

It was a moment Strauss believed would escape him after being overlooked as the new captain when the selectors chose Kevin Pietersen to lead the side in the aftermath of Michael Vaughan’s resignation last year.

But after taking over in controversial circumstances when Pietersen and coach Peter Moores were sacked in January, Strauss now has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of illustrious captains like Vaughan, Mike Gatting and David Gower in winning the Ashes.

“It’s a huge moment,” admitted Strauss. “I would never have dreamt of doing it a few years ago and I’m hugely excited about it.

“It’s a massive honour and certainly if we’re successful it will live with me forever, but now is not the time to get emotional about things – now is the time to go out and do our jobs.”

Strauss’ pragmatism at such a significant moment is reminiscent of the composed approach to captaincy provided by Vaughan four years ago, which was such a major factor in England’s unexpected success.

He is hoping that relaxed manner will also translate itself to the players as they approach what, for many of them, will be the biggest series they have competed in with up to five players – Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions – possibly making their Ashes debuts.

“Out of the 11 players that will go out onto the park, firstly there’s a lot of confidence and there are not many guys out of form, which is important and secondly I just like the characters in our side at the moment,” said Strauss.

“They are not guys that are easily overawed. They back themselves and just by looking at the excitement in the camp going into the Ashes series I think that stands us in good stead.

“The last thing you want to see is people very nervous and maybe overawed by the occasion and so far I haven’t seen any signs of that, but at the same time we have to transfer that onto the pitch. It’s easy to be relaxed and comfortable in practice, but it’s another thing to do that in the middle and that’s what we have to do.”

The focus on executing those cricket skills will also extend to the inevitable confrontations which will flare up during the series with both sides putting an emphasis on playing aggressively and standing up to their opponents.

Strauss has already spelled out his determination that England will stand toe to toe with Australia, but not at the expense of their cricket strategy.

He added: “I’ll have a little chat to the lads before going out, but there’s not going to be any massive Churchillian speeches at that stage, it’s about guys going out and doing their job and being focussed and controlled.

“There’s obviously going to be a lot of emotion around, a lot of excitement and it’s important from my point of view that we use that in a positive manner to help us get a little bit extra out of ourselves rather than let it get to us and get carried away.”

The search for control is also expected to be underlined by England’s selection with Monty Panesar and Swann expected to be chosen as a twin spin option ahead of spare seamer Onions while extra batsman Ian Bell has already been released to play for Warwickshire.

Meanwhile, Stuart Broad has set his sights on emulating his father – former England opening batsman Chris – by winning an Ashes series.

Broad snr was part of Mike Gatting’s side which triumphed 2-1 in Australia in 1986-87 when Stuart was just six months old.

Now the Nottinghamshire all-rounder wants to experience the same euphoria.

Broad junior said: “My dad is very proud of his achievements and the whole family are. He got the man of the series on that 1986-87 tour.

“He remembers England had been written off at the start and didn’t build up well to the Tests, but the way they played in the series was superb and they got everyone behind them.

“My dad always says I will never eclipse what he did in his career until I win an Ashes series so that is certainly an aim of mine!

“Mind you, I’ve already won more Tests than he did. We beat New Zealand at Old Trafford last year when Straussy got a great 100 and the first text I had was from dad saying ’you’ve now won more Tests than I ever achieved’.

“But he has got Test match hundreds and that is an aim of mine as well. We want to win this Ashes series and hopefully we can play exciting cricket.

“People ask are you conscious winning the Ashes can make you a big hero but it is not really something you think of.”